Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped a few hours after being released on Sunday.The complaint was made by his son, RamónGuanipa, in the early hours of Monday through his official account on X.
“We denounce that a group of armed people intercepted and kidnapped Juan Pablo Guanipa minutes ago. It was a group of approximately 10 unidentified people. We managed to identify a silver Corolla, a white Range Rover and a Renault Symbol. We demand immediate FAITH OF LIFE and his release,” the statement said.
In addition, the son of the opposition leader released a video in which he reported that his father “was at an activity at eleven forty-five at night when he was ambushed.”
“They targeted them, they were heavily armed and they took my father away. I demand proof of life immediately and I hold the regime responsible for whatever happens to my father. Enough of so much repression,” he concluded.
The kidnapping was also denounced by opposition leader María Corina Machado. “Urgent international alert. A few minutes ago Juan PabloGuanipa was kidnapped in the Los Chorros neighborhood of Caracas. Heavily armed men, dressed in civilian clothes, arrived in 4 vehicles, and violently took him away. We demand his immediate release,” said the Nobel Peace Prize winner in a statement published in X.
The opposition leader had been released by the Chavista regime on Sunday afternoon, after being detained for more than eight months for political reasons.
“Here we are, being released after a year and a half, ten months in hiding, almost nine months detained here. Today we are being released. A lot to talk about the present and the future of Venezuela. Always with the truth ahead,” Guanipa said in a video published on his social networks after being released.
Guanipa, former deputy and former vice president of the National Assembly, had been arrested on May 23, 2025 within the framework of a wave of arrests against allies of María Corina Machado.The announcement was made by the regime’s Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, who presented him as one of the alleged “heads” of a “terrorist network” that, according to the regime, planned to “sabotage” the elections.
The capture occurred in Caracas during an operation by the security forces, while Guanipa had been in hiding since the presidential elections of July 2024, after denouncing electoral fraud.
Cabello showed images and videos of the moment of arrest on state television: Guanipa appeared handcuffed, wearing a bulletproof vest and escorted by agents of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) dressed in black and hooded.
The Chavista official stated that four cell phones and a laptop were seized from him that would contain “the plan” of the alleged conspiracy, and that he was part of a wave of arrests that included more than 70 people, including activists and foreigners.
The detention generated strong rejection from the opposition and human rights organizations, which described it as arbitrary and part of a pattern of political persecution.Guanipa remained incommunicado for several days, without immediate access to his family or lawyers, and was initially transferred to a police headquarters.
